News of: Saturday, 13th of June, 2009

Front Page

Private think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has rejected the view that the proposed budget is an ambitious one and said many of its projections, including economic growth, have been estimated lower than capacity.

The provision for whitening undisclosed money in the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2009-'10 is 'a political compromise', said the finance minister yesterday, after several organisations scathingly criticised the government's move.

Awami League lawmaker MA Latif was involved in a scuffle with law enforcers when the MP with his men tried to force his way into a Water Transport Coordination Cell (WTCC) meeting in Chittagong yesterday.

The government's move to revoke the VAT exemption facility for manpower exporters will ultimately hurt migrant workers, as it will increase the cost of going abroad for work, recruitment agents and migration analysts said yesterday.

The proposed budget for fiscal year 2009-10 is a "bold and challenging one" as the government will face up to financing and implementing the budget astutely, said Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) yesterday.

Business leaders yesterday hailed the government's concept of the public private partnership (PPP) initiative in the budget to implement different projects in infrastructure, health and education sectors.

At least 39 Taliban militants and 10 soldiers were killed in fierce fighting in northwest Pakistan's Swat valley while two suicide bombings in a mosque and madrasa killed six others, the military said yesterday.

BNP Vice-President and former minister MK Anwar has praised expansion of social safety net in the budget proposed for the next fiscal year, but he strongly criticised keeping the provision of whitening black money.

The government will appoint at least three judges to the Appellate Division and 10 judges to the High Court (HC) Division of the Supreme Court (SC) by June this year as a number of judges of both the divisions will retire this year and next year.

Newly appointed US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O Blake will arrive in Dhaka today on a two-day official visit to discuss US-Bangladesh issues with top government and opposition leaders.

A child was killed, ten were injured and a trail of destruction to several hundred dwelling houses, standing crops and trees in a nor'wester that lashed Boulai union in sadar upazila of the district on Thursday night.

A team of Jhenidah Rab-6 arrested a cadre of Purba Banglar Communist Party Janajuddha faction and recovered two firearms and three bullets from his possession during a drive at Baparipara yesterday morning.

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) shot dead two Bangladeshi cattle traders, one each at Ghasuria border of Birampur upazila in Dinajpur district and Rudrapur border of Kalaroa in Satkhira district early yesterday.

THE BNP's reform plan, at least the first phase of it, has been executed as the party announced formation of the convening committees for its district (organisational) units. It will pave the way for the participation of the grassroots workers and leaders in the party's overall reorganisation scheme.

THE finance minister is set to put forward the national budget for fiscal year 2009-10 today. This is the first budget of this government after the restoration of democracy and also the first budget of this finance minister under a democratically elected government.

A turbulent whisper is surging through Washington. Barack Obama wants peace in the life of his first term. He has discovered the magic potion that will kill the roots of two poisonous plants, Palestine and Kashmir. He told Israel that he wants a definite route map towards an independent Palestine state by July. July is also the month during which Hillary Clinton is scheduled to visit the Indian subcontinent. In her baggage will be a war manual for Af-Pak and a peace prescription for Ind-Pak.

Grand Master Enamul Hossain Rajib drew his eighth round board with GM Temirbayev Serikbay of Kazakistan to share the third position in the 1st SCS Inter-national Open Grandmasters Chess tournament in Bhubaneswar, India yesterday.

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff claimed two more wickets for Lancashire as he continued to prove his fitness for the forthcoming Ashes series in his side's County Championship match against Durham at the Riverside.

Only a few weeks have passed since Barcelona completed their historic treble but now the return of Florentino Perez to Real Madrid has already stolen the limelight from their bitter enemies with the audacious signings of Ronaldo and Kaka.

Cricket Australia said Friday it had withdrawn its contract offer to disgraced all-rounder Andrew Symonds, sent home from the World Twenty20 after the latest in a series of alcohol-related indiscretions.

Metropolitan

With the slogan 'Give opportunity to the girl children, eliminate child labour', the World Day Against Child Labour 2009 was observed across the country as elsewhere in the world yesterday with a call for action to tackle the underlying poverty that leads to child labour.

Iranians began voting yesterday for a new president after a fiery campaign which has seen moderate ex-premier Mir Hossein Mousavi emerge as the main challenger to incumbent hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Arts & Entertainment

To generate social awareness on the musical genre 'Gano Sangeet' (songs of the masses), cultural organisation Gano Sangeet Shamonnay Parishad (GSSP) organised a seminar and cultural programme at the Music and Dance Centre auditorium, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on June 11.

Pabna Drama Circle (PDC), a leading cultural organisation in the district and the northern region of Bangladesh celebrates its 28th anniversary today. This important day will see a variety of cultural programmes.

Daily soap "Gulshan Avenue" reaches the landmark of 200 episodes tonight. With story and screenplay by Nima Rahman, the serial has been directed by Satirtha Rahman from the 151st episode. "Gulshan Avenue" will be aired tonight at 9:45pm on Banglavision.

Single-episode play "Prodoshey Protyabartan" will be aired tonight on ntv at 9pm. Written by Litu Shakhawat and directed by Sharif Ahmed, the play has seasoned film actor Alamgir, Aupi Karim and Intekhab Dinar in the lead roles.

Popular artiste Shakila Zafar performed at the musical soiree organised regularly by Bengal Foundation, "Pran-er Khela." As a homage to the approaching Bengali month 'Ashadh' (the first month of monsoon season), and to perhaps articulate everyone's yearning for some respite from this searing heat, the diva beautifully rendered some rain songs. The soiree was held on June 11 at the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts.

For some, Kanak Chapa is one of the leading voices in 'adhuik' music, for others she is a melody in herself. Kanak, well known for her impeccable renditions, is to perform live on Baishakhi Channel this evening. The musical programme featuring Kanak, “Priyo Shilpir Shera Gaan,” will be aired at 7:30 pm.

“I left my Rudy Giuliani suit at home,” says the mayor of New York City, brushing off an aide's plea to use an unfolding crisis as an opportunity to make a show of leadership for the cameras. Played by James Gandolfini with a demeanour more fussy than thuggish, this fictional successor to Giuliani presides over an identifiably post-Rudy, post-9/11 metropolis, a shiny, busy place ruled by money and ambition.

OP-ED

THE greenhouse effect leading to global warming, first identified by the Swedish chemist Arrhenius in 1896, indicates that human activities like driving cars, burning coal, cutting trees and raising cattle have significantly increased the concentration of key greenhouse gases namely carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. This increase in greenhouse gases is thought to have enhanced the greenhouse effect that leads to global warming and consequent climate change.

THE government's move to establish an expatriate welfare bank with expatriate workers as its shareholders and investors, in a bid to help those seeking jobs abroad and using remittance for productive purposes, is unrealistic.

INDIA'S political scene looks far less murky than before. This was reflected in the first session of Parliament after the general election. There was shouting, boycott or walkout. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also assured a bipartisanship approach in the first speech at the Lok Sabha.

Environment

THE textile processing industries produce wastewater which is one of the main sources of pollution of the rivers, canals and wetlands in and around Dhaka as well as many other places in the country. Effluents from these industries contain suspended solids, large amount of dissolved solids, un-reacted dyestuff and other chemicals that are used in different stages of dyeing, fixing, washing and other processing.

ACCORDING to the Associated Press, some 2.3 million people were affected by Aila, many of them stranded in flooded villages. Storm surges in Bangladesh flooded agricultural areas with salty water. Home to roughly 25,000 residents, the coastal island Nijhum Dwip was reported to be completely submerged. As of May 27, many rural villages had not yet been reached by relief workers, and the death toll was expected to rise significantly as search and rescue efforts continued.

THE theme for World Environment Day this year was “Your planet needs you-Unite to combat climate change”. It reflects the urgency for nations to agree on a new deal at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen in December next.

Literature

Few literary figures in recent memory excite such passionate invective as novelist Sir V.S. Naipaul. His public figure, his work, his personal life, all examined in tandem, tend to inspire a uniquely tortured rhetoric. He has been caricatured as a monster, and will never be a darling of the politically correct. Few other writers are judged as completely as a moral failure in the way Naipaul is, and this tendency is baffling. The insistence in popular imagination on Naipaul's "life choices" reveals a prurient, amateurish fascination with him as a celebrity. Joan Didion summed up this attitude: "It is hard not to note a certain turning in the air when V.S. Naipaul is mentioned, a hint of taint...One catches the construction 'brilliant but': brilliant but obsessive, brilliant but reductive..." Out of the murk of commentary that threatens to drown the author's fictional voices, one grudging admission rises without fail: Naipaul is a hugely talented writer. I'd suggest that last phrase be said simply, without a 'but' or an 'although' appended.

Four simple chairs draw closer in a semi-circle on the dais and bodies seat themselves. The lead speaker, a patron of the Cultural Committee, focuses on Asia House's achievements, and gives special thanks to the United States Embassy for bringing Daniyal Mueenuddin to the UK. I wonder if Daniyal had been CIA-rendered, kidnapped, locked and unfed, inside a CIA-C-40 container to the UK! The US Embassy website exudes teen gush: “Sometimes this job totally rocks. This week we've taken Daniyal Mueenuddin from his day job...”

The telephone is ringing...ringing on and on You are to come to me today I spent the whole morning with the orchids-- Impatience seems to be blooming for thousands and thousands of years in deep violet flowers For you my deepest of love still!In my thoughts of self-created loneliness I reach out to you, you onlyYou are there and there you are in all my existence Suddenly I desire,The salty taste of your lips sweeps awayThe careful decorations of ignored Ahalya:The stone womanbrimming with speechless dialogueWho will lead her in the prehistoric forest With what trust?

O absent-minded one,I won't send you a garlanded message.But if you don't find out what I have to sayHow will you know the truth about me?I'll never know your response then, O absent-minded one!When the time is right and evening lovely and quietWhen your eyes become spellbound in the fading light,Let me soothe you with soft tunes.Will you listen then to the message I've strung In languid and mild measures?Just as a firefly flitting through shal forests,Weave in hushed darkness a rosary of light,In a lonely corner of your soul's courtyard,All alone I'll go on composing my songs for you,Completely rapt in homage, O absent-minded one!

In late April, WHO announced the emergence of a novel influenza A virus. This particular H1N1 strain has not circulated previously in humans. The virus is entirely new. The virus is contagious, spreading easily from one person to another, and from one country to another. As of today, nearly 30,000 confirmed cases have been reported in 74 countries.

The nose is a part of the body rich in blood vessels and is situated in a vulnerable position as it protrudes on the face. As a result, trauma to the face can cause nasal injury and bleeding. Nosebleeds can happen if a cold or allergy irritates the inner nose as well. Touching and poking the inner nose can cause nosebleeds. Hard nose blowing can cause nosebleeds. Nosebleeds can start after the nose is hit or bumped. Nosebleeds are common in the winter when the air is dry.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended that oral rotavirus vaccines be included in all national immunisation prog-rammes to avert half a million diarrhoeal deaths and 2 million hospitalisations a year.

Women with type 1 diabetes should keep their blood glucose levels well controlled before they become pregnant, in order to minimise the risk of serious adverse pregnancy outcomes, results of a large Danish study indicate.

Musroom is a one kind of edible fungus. It has dynamic action like as a food, medicine and tonic. But mind that some are very much toxic what we usually see growing naturally on the road side and fields.

If the blood supply to your brain is inadequate, even momentarily, you may feel faint. You may even lose consciousness for a short time. If you feel faint, lie down or sit down and place your head between your knees. Sometimes fainting has no medical significance. In other cases, fainting can be caused by a serious underlying condition. If you have recurrent fainting spells, discuss it with your doctor.

Strategic Issues

A joke from the Bush-Blair era went like this: on the sidelines of a G8 Summit, the two buddies were laughing over a joke when Condoleezza Rice walked in and asked them what they were laughing about. Bush replied that they were discussing the Third World War that would kill a billion Muslims and a dentist. A surprised Rice asked “why one dentist?” An amused Bush turned to Blair and said, “See I told you no one cares about the Muslims.”

THE European Union of 27 nation-states has been delaying Turkey's entry into the Union by demanding hosts of unwarranted reforms. Many EU member countries do not want Turkey, a Muslim country with more than 70 million inhabitants, into the exclusive Christian Club and that is why a delaying strategy has been adopted.

LAHORE, the cultural and posh city with Mogul heritage, witnessed a harrowing car bomb attack of a police station and the local headquarters of Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) agency on 27 May 2009. This is more than the seventh major attack on the city since January 2008 - and the third since March 2009, when the Sri Lankan cricket team and a police academy were targeted. The bomb, which killed twenty-seven people and injured over a hundred, is a further sign of the systemic, interrelated and deep- rooted nature of Pakistan's internal-security troubles.

Star Books Review

THE partition of India, you can be sure of it, will forever remain a scar on men's historical consciousness in this part of the world. Of course, the generation that witnessed the searing division, with all its massacres and rape and pillage and the lot, has by now nearly passed on. But those that succeeded it have held on to the tragic tale, through oral tradition or through the ubiquity of writing that has been expended on the theme of India's vivisection over the years.

THE night flight to the seventh sky and then to Sidratul Muntaha (last frontier) was the most significant event in the life of Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa (peace be upon him) after he had been graced by the Almighty with prophethood. He was made the most knowledgeable human being as he was taken on a physical tour of heaven and hell and many other places which are beyond the reach of anyone else. Bishshanabir Meraj has been meticulously written to ensure that no subjective likes and dislikes distort the facts about the miraculous event. The translator has made all possible efforts to present a true picture of all that was narrated in the original version, and also the narrative has been made reasonably easy for the faithful to comprehend it with little effort. The book is, therefore, indispensable for believers to further cement and consolidate their faith and belief in the ultimate authority of Allah.